Most of South Africa's exports, on the other hand, are raw materials, in particular base metals.
Ensilication offers the prospect of a solution to the "cold chain" problem for biological materials, in particular for vaccines.
The development of intelligent materials, in particular those showing the highly sensitive mechanoresponsive luminescence (MRL), is desirable but challenging.
Advanced materials, in particular SiCf/SiC, under development, could provide more thermodynamically efficient blankets.
Counterintuitive effects are observed for compressible materials, in particular, for auxetic materials.
A system for incorporating antimicrobial zinc into polymeric materials, in particular hydrogel type polymers has been developed.
In some cases non-metallic materials in particular, process upset conditions can change the physical properties of the material.
To improve their wear resistance and biocompatibility, these implants are coated with various materials, in particular diamond-like carbon (DLC).
Ion implantation is a key process technique for semiconductor materials, in particular silicon, for local tailoring of the semiconductor properties.
The field of continuum damage mechanics addresses mathematical models for the degradation of the mechanical properties of engineering materials, in particular for softening effects.
The presence of residual stress can cause failure or even change the dissolution rates of many materials, in particular biomaterials that are designed to be resorbed.
